Tag Archives: CPA exam

All I can say so far about being a 5th-year MPA in her final spring semester is that studying for the CPA is hard. All I think about is accounting, which can start to take a toll on your sanity. In an effort to make light of a somewhat overwhelming situation, I am attempting a number of techniques to make studying more fun. The first one of which is to try a technique one of my previously graduated friends has pioneered: CPA-related poetry. This isn’t so much a blog post as me sharing the various modifications of famous poems to reflect the joy of CPA studying. I plan on posting other posts that will document the other techniques to make CPA studying more fun and enjoyable.

CPA and Graduation(a modified version of Fire and Ice by Robert Frost)
Some say the world will end with CPA,
Some say with graduation.
From what I’ve tasted of MPA,
I hold with those who favor CPA.
But if it had to perish twice,
I think I love UT enough
To say the pain commencement brings
Is also great,
And would suffice.

A CPA’s Siren Call to Accounting Students(an adaptation of a Shel Silverstein quote)
If you are an accountant, come study
If you have studied some financial, some cost, some tax
Are able to hold off PCAOB and IRS attacks
If you’re a bean-counter, come sit and relax
For we have some accrual tales to spin, my buddy
Come study!
Come study!

As the semester is quickly coming to a close, I thought I would give another CPA exam update and describe the end of the semester.

So I took my first section of the CPA exam, and I won’t sugar coat it – it went pretty badly. It was my first section and it definitely helped me learn what I did well and what I didn’t do well. I definitely need to change my study method for the next one. Doing more practice questions is key, as I concentrated more on learning the material than practicing questions. I also need to realize that the tests are pretty hard and requires probably more studying than I put into it. For the next section, I plan on doing more practice questions throughout my studying to make sure I am on track and that I don’t feel as unprepared on the day of the test as I did for this one. Continue reading CPA Exam Update + More→

My MPA friends and I at a recruiting event last week. With all this recruiting, the CPA exam is the last thing on our minds.

Hey everyone! A lot of my friends are starting to sit for the CPA exam and I realized that I probably don’t know enough about the exam or what it entails. There is so much online about the CPA exam and I will share some of my findings with you!

First, you have to qualify to sit for the exam. The AICPA does a great job at covering anything and everything you would want to know about qualifying for the exam in their Uniform CPA Candidate Bulletin.

Next, be sure to know the specific rules that your state requires. UT does a great job at helping MPAs to meet the Texas exam requirements. Some of which include: 150 semester hours and a BBA degree, 30 upper division accounting hours and 24 related business hours as well as a 3-hour ethics course. What is great about McCombs is that when we graduate we have met the educational requirements- even the ethics course!

As far as preparing for the exam, I haven’t started since I am just a third-year, but I know it takes a lot of disciplined studying. There are many different prep courses and I would definitely recommend talking to the 5th-year MPAs to see what they have used to study.

Lastly, there are 4 sections of the exam; Financial, Regulation, Audit, and Business. Since MPAs love acronyms and abbreviations, you’ve may have heard the sections referred to as FAR, REG, AUD, and BEC, respectively. FAR and AUD both contain 90 multiple choice questions and 7 task-based simulations. REG has 72 multiple choice questions and 6 task-based simulations. And finally, BEC has 72 multiple choice questions and three written tasks. It is quite a lengthy exam which is probably why each section is taken separately.

The CPA exam seems so far in my future, but it is good to be prepared before starting the process! Good luck, everyone!

Just wanted to give a quick update on my process of studying for the CPA exam. Last time I mentioned this, I was planning on taking the exam at the end of February. Due to my lack of commitment to studying, I had to move my date and I am now taking it in two weeks. This is my first section of the CPA exam and I will admit, I’m pretty nervous.

I spent most of my spring break studying for this exam so now if I don’t keep up with it, I keep reminding myself that I wasted my spring break then. So far I am about half way studying with this section and definitely need to pick up the pace.

The problem I have been having is that now that classes are back in session, I tend to worry more about my homework than my CPA studying. That is good because my classwork is “due” first, but then again, I cannot neglect my studying. I also started a new class this half of the semester, which has added to my workload. Nonetheless, I need to get back on track with my studying so that I don’t waste all the time I’ve studied by not being prepared.

My advice, then, is that when you start studying for the CPA exam, you need to be committed to it and follow a schedule. Otherwise, it will fall by the wayside and will seem to always be a concern on your shoulders. I will keep you all updated on my studying and exam process as it continues.

On another topic other than CPA exam studying, the new class I started this half of the semester has been good so far. It is called Studies in Auditing and since I will be going into auditing after graduation, I hope the class will be very useful. So far (in the two classes we’ve had), I’ve definitely learned more about auditing and the profession. I look forward to our discussions about technical topics as well as current issues in the auditing profession as it is all quite interesting to me.

Please leave comments or questions about the CPA exam, my new auditing class, or anything else you would like to know!

In 74 days, 13 hours, 44 minutes, and 14 seconds (when I was writing this), I will be walking on stage in my cap and gown in front of a beaming crowd of MPAs and their celebrating proud families and friends. But before fast forwarding to that day of cameras and diplomas, let me paint a picture of what’s going on in my very last semester of MPA:

It was 5:45 in the morning when I woke up. I was tired, yet I could not stay asleep any longer. I was ready to get it over with. It had been over a month since I started preparing for this test, and I was ready to fight the battle…

These were my thoughts two and a half hours before taking one of the CPA Exam sections. I was extremely nervous, regardless of the amount of time I had put in to study for the exam, I felt that I still was not prepared enough. There will always be a problem left to review or a formula left to memorize. I was panicking, yet I managed to calm myself down after eating a protein-loaded breakfast that would hopefully stimulate my brain. Continue reading Last Semester Battle!→